


Introduction to the Snow

by iGotToKeepOnMoving



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Family Feels, Oneshot, SERIOUSLY spoilers for puyo puyo tetris, Spoilers, i am in so much pain, oh yeah they/them tee, only a bit canon divergent if at all, vent fic highkey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29277825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iGotToKeepOnMoving/pseuds/iGotToKeepOnMoving
Summary: [Takes place shortly before the events of Puyo Puyo Tetris.]Even if she hadn't seen or heard from him once since she was a little kid, too little to have any vivid memory, he would never stop loving her...."I'm so proud of you."
Kudos: 23





	Introduction to the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> idk about you guys but i am absolutely DEVASTATED over ex and YOU should be too /lh  
> And yes!! This IS heavily inspired by introduction to the snow!!! listen to it and cry like I did suffer with me everybody

Alone at the edge of a universe. That's the way it's been for so long, and the way it always will be. It wasn't the best place to be, but it wasn't as if Ex had any right to complain about it, either; this was his duty, after all. He was responsible for watching over the dimensions.

The Keeper of Dimensions: guardian of both. It was an important job.

...

The Keeper of Dimensions: existing in neither. It got lonely fast.

"Captain's report." Hearing the reports from someone who could never be physically there was better than hearing nothing from anyone at all. If Ex had been in a situation closer to the latter, he wouldn't have been able to handle it for this long. "There's still nothing out here worthy of noting. Everything is going fine, as always."

It was good to hear from Tee, even if they didn't know who exactly they were reporting to. Ex looked out at his surroundings as Tee went on.

The edge of spacetime was a beautiful sight to behold, almost objectively. It was nearly impossible to get there to witness it, yet here he was, constantly there and constantly able to gaze upon the scenery. He should really be more appreciative, shouldn't he? Not many people get to see something like this, if any at all. That doesn't change just because he's one of the lucky few who can.

"There's been quarrelling on the SS Tetra, but that already happens a lot, anyway. I've brought it up a lot, so y-you're likely already aware. If I could find a way to minimize it, I would. At least there's knowing that we don't really mean it. We've only really got each other out here, after all."

They do have each other, don't they? Their bond is almost like a family's: sometimes bickering, but always there for each other when things go wrong.

Ex wished he could be there more. He wished he could be there at all. He really did. He missed them. He missed his daughter.

"...and... and you."

And him? Really? The irony of the statement was almost enough to make him laugh.

Ex? How did _he_ count as someone among them? He couldn't even be on the ship, not anymore. They didn't even know his name.

"Who are you? Who am I sending these to?" There it was, the question he knew they'd ask him one day. "I know I have to send these, but... why? What for? Who's seeing them?"

Ex didn't respond, of course. He never did. Why should he? It would only be a matter of time before Tee and all the others forgot about it, anyway, as is the way of the worlds.

"...who are you?" they asked again.

And again, they were given no response.

"...why won't you ever report back?" Their voice was laced with curiosity, caution, concern. "Why don't you ever say anything to me?"

No response still. Ex persisted. The questions they were prompting him with are questions he couldn't answer. And it wasn't as if Tee was going to remember him in the end, as said before. Ex didn't exist in either the Puyo or Tetris dimension, the price to pay for having to look after both, and it hurt knowing that this would cause everyone's memories of him to fade, but it was something he would just have to live with.

He's lived with it forever, and he can keep living with it twice as long. He has to.

Ex hears them sigh in disappointment before ending the message. "Well, whoever you are, if you're still out there, I hope that you're doing okay. End of report." And as simply as that, it was over.

But was he? _Was_ Ex okay? What was he supposed to do about it if he wasn't?

Nothing was happening at the moment that he'd needed to put a stop to. Nothing that he'd caught onto yet, anyway, and when Ex had downtime, he often looked back on the previous reports. There wasn't much else for him to use to pass the time, he was perfectly able to, and nothing was exactly _stopping_ him.

They'd dated back years, their enriched history forever preserved in the hundreds upon hundreds of records. Ex knows how each and every member of the crew had ended up on the SS Tetra. He still vividly remembers the state Ai was in when he adopted him, and how mature and bright he was now in contrast. He can recall Jay and Elle, their mysterious abilities of origins and caliber that not even they understood landing them on the ship, and how they remained to assist the group during a time in their lives that they had nowhere else to go. He can remember how Tee had gotten there, and where they'd all found O, and he can relive in such grand detail the emotions wringing the air the day he'd put Zed together to look after his daughter.

He remembered Ess. If nothing else, Ex would always remember Ess.

Ex found himself reviewing the logs as he'd done countless times before, a bittersweet smile on his face. Some of the logs back then were recordings with video accompanying the audio before Ai had updated the technology, and Ex often used the low-resolution reports to reminisce on past events and how they compared to the present day. No matter what the subject was, though, or the time the video was taken, or where the crew was, Ex always tended to gravitate his focus towards Ess. And how could he not?

Even from afar, he could use this to see her, so of course he would and did. Even at the edge of spacetime, he could watch over her.

Even if she was estranged from him, he could see his daughter. Even if she didn't remember him, he got to watch her grow up. Even if someone else raised her, she was safe. Even if she hadn't seen or heard from him once since she was a little kid, too little to have any vivid memory, he would never stop loving her.

Ess had become the ship's navigator, and she did such a good job at it. She was capable, bright, strong-willed...

She'd gotten older, much older from when he'd last seen her, got to _hold_ her. Ess used to be so young and reckless, but here she was now, thriving in an environment that the vast majority of people wouldn't be able to stand. It was all so bittersweet already, but especially now, as it hit him that his daughter was almost all grown up. It was enough to make him cry, and he did. And how could he not?

Ex was oblivious, just this once, to the happenings of the worlds. It only takes a moment for a slip-up to happen, for something horrible to occur, for a tear in the dimensions to form. He didn't notice what had happened in that split second. It'd be too late by the time he did. It wasn't as if it was not of importance, for the tear would progressively get horrifically larger, but he simply wasn't aware of what was happening.

Even one mistake could lead to a catastrophic turn of events, however, especially in his job.

It felt so cold all alone. It felt so bitter without the people he cared about there, like an unforgiving blizzard that he was doomed to be eternally trapped in. The first few years without company were only an introduction to the snow, and never was he going to grow numb of this feeling.

Ex reached out to the holographic version of Ess, knowing that it wasn't _really_ her and that she couldn't _really_ see or hear him. What mattered was not how he felt or that she didn't know him, but that she was okay, and that was the reason he would always deal with staying apart. She was doing so well, and that's all he ever wanted for his daughter.

"I'm so proud of you."

Not paying much mind, the Keeper of Dimensions looks back out into space, the clustered, chaotic, _beautiful_ disharmony of space, and dwells quietly on what could have been if he'd never left.


End file.
